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Below you will find a selection of the most recent entries from bloggers in our Work/Business section.

To view the entries from individual bloggers, click on the links below:

 

  • Claire Doole - Claire Doole Communications

    Claire is a former BBC correspondent and international spokeswoman who is passionate about helping people communicate with confidence. Since 2006, she has successfully trained hundreds of professionals in the art of presenting and public speaking, talking to the media, managing communications in a crisis, and writing for the web. In addition, she has coached C-level executives and public figures to give powerful TEDx and TED style talks in Europe and the Middle East. A Swiss and UK national, Claire trains and coaches in French and English.

  • Elizabeth Ballin - Life Coach

    As a long time member of the international community in Geneva, Elizabeth Ballin has been coaching adults and students from all parts of the world.  She has coached business professionals, musicians/artists, couples, families and adolescents.  She is a fully accredited Life Coach by the International Coaching Federation. Elizabeth Ballin, Life Coach

  • Patrick Hoza - US Tax & Financial Services

    Since 1990, Patrick has many years of experience with US individual expatriate taxation under his belt, including High Net Worth Individuals, streamline/voluntary disclosure filings and tax consulting, as well as working with large multinationals like Novartis, BP, Hewlett Packard and General Electric. He has extensive knowledge in serving both US expatriates and resident and non-resident aliens with their US tax-related issues. Patrick Hoza is a Tax Director at US Tax & Financial Services, with extensive experience in all aspects of Individual US tax and Expatriation, including Hight Net Worth Individuals and large multinationals.

    Patrick started his career in 1990 in California, with Westpro Ltd., as a Senior Tax Consultant, then spent the middle part of his career working at KPMG and Ernst & Young. During his time with Ernst & Young, he worked and lived in Russia, France and finally Switzerland. He has gained a valuable working knowledge of the respective income tax regulations in all of these countries.

    Patrick holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Colorado, is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents and is a Certified Acceptance Agent.

  • Melitta Campbell - Business Coach
    Business Coach and Mentor with nearly 3 decades of business experience and a passion for helping women confidently build a business they love. She is also the founder of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Club and president of the Swiss Riviera Toastmasters Club in MontreuxOriginally from Wales, she now lives in Montreux in a chalet she has renovated with her husband overlooking the Swiss Alps. 

  • Sunita Sehmi - Walk The Talk
    Founder of Walk The Talk, Sunita has been training, developing and now coaching Business Communication skills in both companies and educational establishments for over twenty years.  She has a passion for helping people to maximise their potential and created Walk The Talk with the sole aim to drive each and every client to perform their best.
  • Robert Harris- Forth Capital
    With over 25 years experience working for some of the major financial institutions in the City of London, Robert is a founding partner of Forth Capital, the leading expat financial advisory company in Switzerland. Regulary quoted in newspaper articles and magazines, he is well placed to advise expats on a variety of financial issues that may arise during their time living in Switzerland.
  • Debbie Croft - Croft Coaching

    As the founder of Croft Coaching, Debbie has a passion for helping people overcome challenges, embrace change and live life to the full; with an ethos of “work hard, play hard”.

  • Sarah Santacroce - Simplicity
    A certified social media, internet marketing, and virtual event specialist, Sarah enjoys every aspect of small business marketing. Through her own business, Simplicity, it is her mission to help other small businesses and solopreneurs increase their visibility and use social media tools as part of their marketing strategy.
  • Diana Ritchie - SSC Sàrl
    A Director at Swiss Career Connections, Diana will provide you with some useful tips for job hunting.

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By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

One of the most common refrains I hear when coaching senior leaders in public speaking is they have to rewrite most of the speeches drafted for them. 
 
Much of the time the person struggles to deliver the speech because it has not been written for them. In the words of one agency head, “it doesn’t capture my voice.”
 
I have written many speeches. I see my job as writing the speech that the speaker themselves would write if only they had the time. I have to stand in the shoes of that person and see the world as they see it. 
 
Below are some tips based on how I capture my speaker's voice. 
 
Research 
Listen to recordings of the speaker at events and conferences. If you are a staff member observe the speaker at town hall meetings or during internal webinars. 
 
Get to know your speaker  
You must have access to the speaker so that they are involved in the drafting process. During a phone call or in-person meeting, together, you will first have to define the purpose, audience and argument of the speech. But don’t forget to drill down on the essence of that person – what drives them? What are their beliefs? What type of person are they? 
 

ten tips for conducting successful remote interviews 1 copy

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

What is the first thing you think about when asked to give a presentation or speech?

That is a question I often ask in my presenting and speechwriting workshops.

The answers are often very candid but very wrong. They range from the slides I can recycle from previous presentations to structure and messaging.

You can’t give an impactful presentation or speech until you have worked out who you are talking to. Too many speaking engagements are wasted opportunities because the speaker has not tailored his or her content to the audience. If you give some off-the-shelf presentation, audiences know that you are speaking at them and not to them, and will, often, zone out.

You need to ask yourself three questions:

  • What does my audience know about the topic of my speech?
  • What is their attitude to the topic?
  • How big is the audience, and what is the setting?

ten tips for conducting successful remote interviews 1 copy

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

Earlier this year I was asked to sit on an interview panel for a Director of Communications position. The organisation requested my support to reduce eight candidates down to four through a series of written and communication tests. I have helped a number of people prepare for job interviews with international organisations and companies, but I had not been in the recruiter’s chair for many years.

It was a great vantage point to assess what works and what doesn’t.

Below are ten observations based on interviewing candidates remotely:

  1. Prepare. It is a cliché, but preparation does prevent poor performance. I was shocked that some candidates had scant knowledge of the organisation’s vision and mission and had not thought enough about the value they could bring. Employers are looking for what you can do for them: what gaps you can fill and what problems you can solve.
  2. Don’t over-prepare. One candidate had obviously been privy to some confidential information and revealed it. This did not go down well with the panel.
  3. Be prepared to answer questions based on your tests and motivation letter. As a side note, make sure that your cover letter is a single page. It should be employer centric and make them want to read your CV. (We received one letter that was 7-pages long – not a good indication of someone’s ability to be clear and concise!)
  4. Give examples of what you like about the organisation’s mission, values and activities, and where it can improve.

Audience engagement Picture 1

Photo credit: Women's Economy and Society

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

Many people I know – both panelists and audience members - are wondering what is the point of panel discussions.

This is what I am told by the senior managers, leaders and experts I have been training in various communication skills.

It seems they are often too promotional, disorganised, lack focus and fail to deliver any new insights or engage the audience. In fact the audience takeaway seems to be at the bottom of the organisers priority list for a successful panel discussion

And ignoring the audience is having consequences as organisers tell me that fewer people are showing up for virtual, hybrid or in-person panels. It would appear that post pandemic we are all suffering from a case of zoomitis and thinking twice before we tune in or turn up to an event.

Mr Metaphor Jonathan Van Tams best Covid 19 analogies

Photo credit: The Telegraph

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

What lessons have we learnt from how we communicated on the COVID health crisis that we can apply to the climate crisis?

That has been a recurrent question in some of the panel discussions I have moderated at conferences over the past year.

Two years ago, this month WHO announced a global pandemic. Since then politicians may not have admitted that they got things wrong, but scientists certainly have as this article reveals.

What became increasingly clear is that scientists are comfortable with not having a definitive answer. Being proved wrong lies at the heart of scientific progress.

But the media failed to understand this at first. Editors want certainty and journalists like to give answers. News tends to be black and white, while science is shades of grey.

Julien Pain, producer of the French TV programme, True or False, told me during a panel that “journalists learnt that as science evolves scientists change their mind on issues such as lockdowns, masks, and vaccinating children.”

He said that journalists should have focused on “what we know for sure, what we don’t know and what we need to know”. This he thought would at least have dampened the anti vaxxer arguments about not trusting governments due to their constantly changing policies.

Interestingly, he felt that scientists tended to fall into the trap of playing the media’s game and were not cautious enough with their answers. Perhaps, he opined because they wanted to be on TV or radio.